The Worland Family in America and Beyond

I began my life in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, on an island filled with forests and wild rhododendrons. I was separated from my Worland family there at an early age. Recently, I was reunited with my family and learned of my heritage. And so, this journey to know my ancestors began. The Worlands, Gideons, Newtons, Conards... they were the colonists, the settlers, the pioneers. They fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War. This is their story, and the story of a nation. -Deci Worland MacKinnon

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

St. Ignatius Church, Chapel Point 1641



The oldest active parish in the nation with a continual pastorate, St. Ignatius sits beautifully on a 120-foot bluff above the Potomac River near Port Tobacco, Maryland. St. Ignatius was founded in 1641 by the Reverend Andrew White who accompanied Catholic settlers to Maryland on the Ark and the Dove.
The oldest surviving marker is the burial site of Elizabeth Darnall who died in 1705.
A resident priest explained the lack of older markers. In the 17th century, most of the burials were closer to the river, and mostly of wood.
During the Civil War, soldiers on the Virginia side of the Potomac fired cannon at the stone headstones, destroying them.
In 1866, much of the interior of the church was destroyed by a fire, and records were lost. However, later headstones of Robey, Digges, Neale, Mudd, etc. show that many Charles County colonists were interred here.

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